Every year my sister hosts Rosh Hashanah at her house and asks me to bring my kale salad (the one with pomegranates, you guys know it well), and another side. I am only too happy to oblige, especially considering that she is in charge of the brisket and, you know, hosting thirteen of us. The kale salad is a no-brainer, as Iโve mentioned many times, itโs the kind of thing that seems to work just as well for a regular old Wednesday night rush-fest as it does for a table set with linens, china, and a shofar centerpiece. For the other side dish, though, my brain always heads in some sort of herby quinoa or tabbouleh-type direction. Maybe feta. Maybe parsley. It feels safe and healthy, and plays nicely with the brisket, especially when some of the brisket sauce swims over to mingle with the grains. And its Mediterranean note feels right on the Rosh Hashanah table.
The problem with those salads though? Theyโre not terribly exciting. Theyโreโฆ.sensible. At least the way I make them. Everyone will pile some on to the plate, and later not really remember anything about what they ate. Last week, I wanted to try something new, break out of my own grain salad rut and attempt something that didnโt feel like homework, maybe even something that people would remember. Not surprisingly, I found what I was looking for in the first book I pulled off the shelf: Leah Koenigโs Modern Jewish Kitchen. (You might have already tried her super simple Roast Chicken with Fennel and Orangesย that I featured a few years ago. And if you havenโt, you should right away.) I found Fattoush, which, for those of you who donโt know, is like the Lebanese cousin of Panzanella. Lots of vegetables and herbs, mixed with a lemony-yogurt zaโatar-spiked dressing, crispy pita chips, and โ hereโs the rub โ really good tomatoes. Since the window for tomatoes is about to shut for good, I was so happy to have an excuse to use a pint I picked up at our farmerโs market plus a few spares I rescued from my sisterโs backyard garden.
Speaking of dishes people get excited about, I also filled a casserole with creamy, buttery horseradish mashed potatoes and the kids and their cousins, who usually only see this dish on Thanksgiving, couldnโt believe their luck. What they didnโt know was that the mashed potatoes were a decoy, meant to distract them from the fattoush so there would be enough for the grown-ups. It worked. The bowl was licked clean, but we had plenty (for seven adults) and the next day my mom emailed me for the recipe because she wanted to pass it along to her tennis partner who was cooking for a crowd later in the week. Thatโs how I know it was a winner.
Fattoush
Just add aย Roast Chicken to make this a full meal.
Two 6-inch white or whole wheat pita rounds
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup plain full-fat or low fat yogurt
2 teaspoons zaโatar or sumac (available in better supermarkets or Amazon)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 large garlic clove, pushed through a press or minced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 ripe medium tomatoes, cored, seeded, chopped (I used cherry and grape tomatoes picked from my sisterโs garden)
3 kirby cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into half-moons
5 radishes, thinly sliced (I used about three here)
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
4 scallions, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh mint
Preheat the oven to 400ยฐF. Lay the pitas on a large rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry and crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, then break into bite-size pieces. Transfer to a bowl, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and stir to coat.
Whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, yogurt, sumac (or zaโatar), lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
In a large bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients. Fold in the toasted pita pieces. Drizzle the dressing over the top and gently toss to combine. Divide the salad among the plates and serve immediately.
So many more where this one came from in Modern Jewish Cooking.ย For more Leah, check out her website, or follow her on instagram. ย Recipe reprinted withย authorโsย permission.
Look forward to trying this zippy salad over the weekend! Thanks for your meal inspirations!
This looks delicious! I was wondering if you could suggest a non-dairy substitute for the yogurt in the dressing. Thanks!
In lebanon we do only lemon juice, garlic, olive oil salt and pepper for this dressing. I canโt wait to try this yogurt version. I personally love all the variations in the US.
I find the zaโatar OR sumac instructions weird as they are different things and would give two quite different salads, esp if you were to use sumac in the quantities you might use zaโatar โ 2tsp seems a lot for this amt of veg, esp as you donโt have any greens.
I am Lebanese and we only use sumac in this salad and yes we do use a lot of it so the measurements are correct!
Wish I could ask you bring your salad to me as your sister ๐ I feel lucky coz i donโt need send you email to have this recipe. Thanks for your sharing!
I like tomato you used to make this salad, its colour is amazing
This was dinner tonight with grilled chicken and it was incredible! I added feta cheese and red peppers, yum!
Trying this salad tonight! Was hoping you could you post your horseradish mashed potato recipe? Thanks!
I made this last night and woke up this morning wondering how long I needed to wait before making it again. YUM.
This was amazing!! I used Trader Joeโs pita chips instead of making my own, and a combination of zaโatar and sumac. Totally delicious.